The Ailey School

Bette Danganan (they/them) was born and raised in the Chicago area and started their dance training at Legere Dance Centre. For 8 years, they performed in Ballet Legere’s Annual Nutcracker, the longest running production of The Nutcracker in all of Chicagoland. They also had the privilege of attending summer intensives at The Joffrey Ballet Chicago, The Milwaukee Ballet, and The San Francisco Conservatory of Dance (SFCD), where they performed work by Ohad Naharin. They are a 2023 graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program where they worked with choreographers such as Winston Dynamite Brown, Tina Bush, Mark Caserta, Ethan Colangelo, and Helen Simoneau. In 2020, they were awarded a full scholarship to the Deeply Rooted summer intensive, and in 2022 they attended the Gibney Summer Study. In December of 2021, Bette made their professional debut with MUMOS and The Heraclitus Project under the direction of Nicolas Fiery and Sofi Ferero. Bette aspires to delve deeper into the dance scene in New York City, perform with contemporary dance companies, and make waves in the dance industry.